Emusic Fail!!

I am blogging today just to let everyone (I know, I know...all 3 or 4 of you who read this blog, anyway) know that I am furious with eMusic! (Normally I provide a link to the websites I discuss, but I am seriously pissed off and don't want to give them any traffic.)

For many years now, eMusic has been the "corner indie music store" of the web, where people could get the "digging through dusty crates" experience of a real brick & mortar indie record store. They offer a ton of tracks from indie labels, along with excellent editorials and other music writing & reviews. I have had a subscription there for over 3 years, and have come to depend on eMusic as one of my main sources of music discovery. I discovered The Weepies there, along with many other acts that I would likely not have heard of elsewhere.

The pricing structure was pretty restrictive, requiring a monthly subscription plan, but the prices were so low that it made it worthwhile. The only real problem I had with the plan was that there were months where I forgot to download my tracks and lost them. Still, I have maintained and been pretty happy with my subscription, which has offered me 50 downloads per month for $11.99, which is a great deal, especially compared to Amazon, iTunes, or the like.

A few days ago eMusci announces in an exciting tone that they will be offering a new catalog, including over 200,000 new tracks! Yay! These are all from Sony labels and will largely feature major acts such as Springsteen, Alicia Keys, and other big names. Now, I want to stress that that alone is okay with me. I'm cool with having big name acts available alongside the indie stuff, so long as the editorial content and music discovery focus is still there, and that eMusic doesn't simply become the next Columbia/iTunes/BMG or similar.

But the prices have almost doubled! I have been informed that my 50 track plan for $11.99 per month will now be reduced to 30 tracks! There was a price increase a few months ago, but at that point subscribers were grandfathered in at current rates. Why not now?

I suspect it's because eMusic had to agree to raise prices in order to get access to this catalog. This pisses me off royally, since this catalog doesn't even represent what has made eMusic such a great community for so long! They are completely abandoning their base, hoping that newcomers will make up for it financially.

Well, I don't know yet if I'll cancel my subscription, but I am seriously considering it. Judging by the comments made to the letter to subscribers on the site, many people will cancel in July when the new structures takes effect.

I just wanted to issue a stern slap on the wrist. If only I had more readers, so that this post might make some sort of difference!